David Moyes entered end-of-season talks with Bill Kenwright seeking the "chink of light" that would persuade him to sign a contract extension with Everton. Its absence has presented Daniel Levy with opportunity to end the Premier League's third longest managerial reign should Tottenham Hotspur decide to replace the abandon of Harry Redknapp with the pragmatism of the Everton manager.

Five weeks on from the first of several conversations with the Everton chairman, Moyes' new contract remains unsigned. He has 12 months to go on his existing deal, just as Redknapp did at White Hart Lane minus the fuss and manoeuvring, and today finds himself where he usually is at this time of year: on holiday in the US, with concerns over the direction of Everton for baggage.

There is no budget to speak of for new signings, his best players are coveted by Manchester United and Chelsea and with the bank showing more interest in the club's finances than new investors, there are no guarantees Moyes would receive all of the proceeds from player sales.

The Everton manager has been here before and received several invitations to leave the serial frustrations of Goodison Park behind. They have all been politely declined, including a tempting offer from a Spanish club last summer, as Moyes has repaid the loyalty shown to him by Kenwright during troubled times. It may be different should Spurs go on a charm offensive.

Moyes retains a desire to coach abroad but what will shape his next career step is the hunger that brought him to Everton's attention with Preston North End in 2002. "I want to be able to compete and I want to be ambitious," he reiterated in his final pre-match press conference of last season. That comes as no surprise from a man who, when asked his target for the coming campaign, replies every August: "To win the league."

Before a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham in January, the 49-year-old openly lamented the widening gulf between the two clubs. Where Everton and Spurs once vied for European places, Moyes saw only a stark contrast between a club that gave the bulk of Mikel Arteta's £10m transfer fee from Arsenal to the bank and one who "have always supported whatever manager they've had, whether that be Juande Ramos, Martin Jol or Harry Redknapp. They have always backed their managers." It appeared inevitable at that stage that Moyes would reach his 10-year anniversary as Everton manager in March but would not get to the 11th.

By the season's close, however, a parting was not so clear-cut and it is not a foregone conclusion that Moyes will be Tottenham's next manager. He has complete control over football operations at Everton and his loyalty to the club extends to his players, particularly new signings and those recently convinced to sign new contracts. His conservatism on the field, which produced a watershed moment for many Everton supporters when it invited defeat in the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool last season, must also be considered by Levy.

Moyes would counter that his tactics are tailored to the players he can afford to buy, that reaching the semi-final was an achievement given last season's problems, and he can rightly point to the fine football Everton produced when Arteta was at his peak and complimented by the likes of Steven Pienaar. A club with a defensive reputation as suspect as Tottenham's would also be keen on a manager who took Joleon Lescott, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka from Wolves, Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United respectively and turned them into England internationals at Euro 2012.

Everton and Moyes were transformed from January by a rare foray into the transfer market for Nikica Jelavic, and a seventh-placed finish reinvigorated the Scot. The final day's comprehensive defeat of a Newcastle United team chasing Champions League qualification illustrated that, with the right additions, Everton should be in European contention again next term.

Providing there are additions of course, and Everton resist United's interest in Baines and Chelsea's in Marouane Fellaini. Moyes was keen on signing Nick Powell from Crewe Alexandra before the England Under-18 international elected for Old Trafford. He also wants to re-sign Pienaar on a permanent basis from Spurs. The alarming aspect for Everton is that it would not take a lot to persuade him stay. As Moyes said before the season's finale against Newcastle: "We didn't need a great deal of money to change things around in January. With £5m we got Darron Gibson and [Nikica] Jelavic, and we also got Pienaar and Landon [Donovan] in on loan. Without an awful lot we gave ourselves a fighting chance and got Everton back on the rails again. We'd fallen off in the first half of this season. We don't need an awful lot. I just need to know there is a chink of light." He may find it appears in north London before Merseyside.